Read the passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the best answer to each of the following questions from 1...

Read the passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the best answer to each of the following questions from 17 to 24.

        Across many metropolises, rewilding reframes urban green space as essential infrastructure rather than decorative garnish. Tree-lined corridors, pocket parks, and community gardens mitigate particulate pollution, temper heat trapped by masonry, and furnish continuous habitat for birds and pollinators. If such networks are stitched with care, residents report calmer moods, renewed sociability, and motivation for gentle exercise. Although budgets are finite, small parcels, when linked, can deliver outsized ecological dividends, functioning as the city’s lungs while also enlivening streets where nature has been long sidelined.

        Rewilding diverges from manicured landscaping by privileging native species and patient restraint. Meadow plantings, wetland rehabilitation, and microhabitats – log piles, stone clusters, shallow ponds – invite amphibians and beneficial insects to recolonise. Left largely to their own rhythms, these revived patches often stabilise themselves more effectively than highly curated lawns. Where nectar-rich flora prevail, bees and butterflies rebound; where soils are undisturbed, fungi and invertebrates re-weave nutrient cycles. If municipalities eschew constant trimming, vegetation structure diversifies, rain infiltrates more readily, and maintenance costs may fall without sacrificing civic pride.

        Community involvement turns scattered plots into a civic commons. Schools adopt verge gardens; tenants co-manage rooftops; neighbourhood groups host workshops and citizen-science drives, and they coordinate seasonal care. Such engagement is not sporadic when municipal officers provide seed kits, signage, and clear guidance on coexistence with urban wildlife. While some residents fear “messiness,” well-designed paths, sightlines, and interpretive boards reassure newcomers. If participation is embedded in local calendars, stewardship becomes habit, and shared ownership displaces indifference that once left planters barren by mid-summer.

        The dividends are tangible. Cooler streets blunt heat-island spikes; restored wetlands buffer flash floods; leafy vistas reduce anxiety and entice foot traffic that sustains small businesses. Nonetheless, obstacles persist: development pressure, funding bottlenecks, and skepticism toward naturalistic aesthetics can stall pilots. Yet as eco-design tools mature – smart green roofs, nature-inclusive façades – cities can integrate habitat without halting growth. If planners articulate lifetime savings and resilience gains, investment follows, and rewilding shifts from experiment to norm, securing biodiversity benefits alongside humane, convivial spaces for future citizens.

(Adapted from https://logic-bespoke.com/rewilding-initiatives-transforing-cities-for-nature-and-people)

Question 17. The word mitigate in paragraph 1 can be best replaced by ______?

A. reduce                B. intensify                        C. complicate                        D. conceal